Late Saturday night or early Sunday morning, police say someone painted swastikas on and around two Brighton synagogues.
Neighbors were seen trying to scrub the graffiti from the driveway leading to one synagogue and on the sidewalk in front of private residences in the area.
The synagogues are located in the 6500 block of 52nd Avenue South and the 5100 block of South Morgan Street. Officers responded to the various crime scenes and are actively investigating.
“The police have been here all morning, walking the neighborhood looking for clues and, I think, as a precautionary measure,” said neighbor Andie Ptak.
The Seattle Police Department is treating the situation very seriously and encourages anyone who may have information about the incidents to call its Bias Crimes Unit at (206) 233-3898.
Photo/Will Austin Photography
Who to know, where to eat & what to do in one of America’s most diverse zip codes!
{ 5 comments }
Andie,
I stopped by this morning to photograph some of the vandalism this morning. I was told from the SPD that I needed permission by the synagogues but found know one to speak to at that point. If you or anyone else needs photographs to be taken at any point, please do not hesitant to contact me. I wish I was available earlier to help out on this travesty in our ethnically diverse neighborhood.
David
davidmullarkeyimages.com
I saw a picture on the news, he/ they? did it backwards at least the one they showed was backwards. Still very uncool.
David,
While I wouldn’t argue with the officer on the scene, I believe you have the legal right to take a photo of anything so long as you are on a public street. Naturally one should show respect where due. There have been some recent legal cases in regard to this (Google Maps for instance) and my impression is that the public won.
Thanks,
Tom T.
Tom,
Yeah, I would agree!
Unfortunately a view from the street was not the angle I needed to get the shot and all graffiti seen from street had already been covered up at this point in time. Thanks, I do appreciate the comment.
David
Yes, it is correct you have the right to take pictures from a public place of anything viewable from that public place.
In this particular case, the officer at the scene was correct that it would have been improper for him/her to admit someone to the synagogue proper, even a place not part of the current crime scene, without the property owner’s permission. Sometimes in these cases police are asked by property owners at a crime scene to keep everyone off of the property who does not have specific permission to be there. This is most common in situations where the media is likely to show up, or is showing up.
Although this clearly does not apply here, there is one note to keep in mind: depending on when and under what circumstances you take it, pictures or video you take at/of a crime scene may be subject to being collected as evidence, and potentially not returned until the conclusion of a court case following an investigation. This is usually more applicable to situations where you video/photograph a crime-in-progress, but it also applies to crimes scenes after the fact. This is something that local and national TV news outlets are more familiar with happening to them as it is not unusual for something they capture on film/digits to have evidentiary value (think of the bloody aftermath of a multi-vehicle collision, fire, violent crime, protesting/rioting, etc…)
Confusion over where and when it is, and is not, allowable to take pictures of someone or something usually flares up when their is some sort of disagreement or misunderstanding about the status (i.e. public vs. private) of the property where the picture is being taken. Another although much less common situation is where photographing, even though done in public, takes on a harassing or threatening nature, and then other legal issues arise (also clearly that does not apply here, but I fugured why not mention it for future ref.).
Very few things in statute and case-law are as simple as black-and-white.
See you on the streets.
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